"I was pale and speechless, for it seemed to me that nobody but Léodgard could have brought that plume.
"But my mother instantly cried:
"'A lover! so it's true that she has a lover, is it? My suspicions are well founded!—Ah! you wretched, shameless girl!'
"I fell on my knees, stammering: 'Pardon! pardon! yes, I am guilty; but he will marry me! he has sworn it, and he will keep his oath!'
"When they heard an avowal which doubtless they were far from expecting, my father hid his face in his hands. But my mother—oh! her wrath was terrible! She strode toward me to strike me, but I think that my father caught her arm. She heaped insults upon me, and questioned me. I was so terrified that I could not speak.
"'But,' she cried, 'that villain—her seducer—who is he? Did you see him, Landry?'
"'I don't understand it,' said my father; 'it was a wretched little solicitor's clerk—horribly ugly and a perfect idiot—who ran away when I thrashed him!'
"I knew then, of course, that Léodgard had not brought the white plume, and I faltered:
"'It is not he, father; no, I don't know the man you saw.'
"'But, in that case, who is your seducer? Tell me his name—his name, instantly, that I may go and wash away in his blood the affront put upon my honor!'